Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 April 14

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Today's featured article
Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese noble, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the discoverer of Brazil. Cabral conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. He was appointed to head an expedition to India in 1500, following Vasco da Gama's newly opened route around Africa. His fleet of 13 ships sailed far into the western Atlantic Ocean, perhaps intentionally, where he made landfall on what he initially assumed to be a large island. As the new land was within the Portuguese sphere according to the Treaty of Tordesillas, Cabral claimed it for the Portuguese Crown. He explored the coast, realizing that the large land mass was likely a continent, and dispatched a ship to notify King Manuel I of the new territory. The continent was South America, and the land he had claimed for Portugal later came to be known as Brazil. Cabral was later passed over, possibly as a result of a quarrel with Manuel I, when a new fleet was assembled to establish a more robust presence in India. Having lost favor with the King, he retired to a private life of which few records survive. His accomplishments slipped into obscurity for more than 300 years. Historians have long argued whether Cabral was Brazil's discoverer, and whether the discovery was accidental or intentional. Nevertheless, although he was overshadowed by contemporary explorers, Cabral today is regarded as a major figure of the Age of Discovery. (more...) Recently featured: HMS Ark Royal – Pattern Recognition – Parkinson's disease Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that James FitzGerald (pictured), the first editor of the Lyttelton Times, later founded its main competitor, The Press? ... that riparian forests contain some ⅓ of the estimated 3000 flora species in Benin? ... that the first Allied soldier killed during the Normandy landings was part of Operation Deadstick? ... that the Chapman Swifts, a flock of Vaux's Swift, inspired a Portland, Oregon, community to raise over US$60,000 for a new school heating system so the birds could have the old chimney to roost? ... that because it was too dark inside the Church of St Peter ad Vincula in Colemore, Hampshire, the parishioners petitioned the bishop in 1669 to have the south transept removed? ... that Decuriasuchus may be the first known archosaur to exhibit group behavior? ... that the Pistol River received its name after James Mace lost his pistol in it in 1853? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

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Laurent Gbagbo The Japan Atomic Energy Agency raises the severity of the Fukushima I nuclear accidents to level 7, the highest on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo (pictured) is arrested after a five-month standoff with Alassane Ouattara. At least 12 people are killed and over 200 injured in a bomb attack on the Metro in Minsk, Belarus. France implements a controversial ban on full-length face covering. Iceland rejects a plan to repay the British and Dutch governments over guarantee savings after Icesave's failure. In golf, South African Charl Schwartzel wins the Masters Tournament. American film director Sidney Lumet dies at the age of 86. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
April 14: Tamil New Year; N'Ko Alphabet Day in West Africa; Day of the Georgian language in Georgia (1978) 966 – After his marriage to the Christian Dobrawa of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converted to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state. 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians near the town of Barnet, killing Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. 1865 – Actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth fatally shot U.S. President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. 1999 – A storm dropped an estimated 500,000 tonnes of hailstones (example pictured) in Sydney and along the east coast of New South Wales, causing about A$2.3 billion in damages, the costliest natural disaster in Australian insurance history. 2007 – In Ankara, Turkey, the first of the Republic Protests took place, when hundreds of thousands of people protested against the possible presidential candidacy of incumbent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. More anniversaries: April 13 – April 14 – April 15 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now April 14, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) is a large waterbird which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia as well as New Zealand. They are large birds with mostly black plumage and red bills. They are monogamous breeders that share breeding responsibilities between the sexes.

Photo: Fir0002

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